


Don't Stop, Stir the Pot

by icedpocarie



Series: Self-indulgent nico and reyna fics [4]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Comedy??, F/M, Gen, M/M, Nico di Angelo & Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano Friendship, Nico is a Dork, Self-Indulgent, Very fluffy, but so does nico, cooking cooking, mommy reyna, nico is a good boy, platonic fluffy, reyna has favoritism, reyna is slow at times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-06-28
Packaged: 2019-05-29 22:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15083255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icedpocarie/pseuds/icedpocarie
Summary: Reyna still doesn't know why she is in the middle of this cooking class with Nico.aka: everyone tells reyna that she's biased but she knowsaka 2.0: the favoritism goes both ways





	Don't Stop, Stir the Pot

“ _Why_ did you even take this class, Nico?”

Reyna barely questions her life decisions but after several incidents that left her thinking if her sanity is intact, she knows that agreeing to a spontaneous _Nico_ _suggestion_ can sometimes lead to… dire consequences.

This morning, Reyna prepared her clothing and her schedule – fully thinking that she would spend the day productively whipping the rest of the camp in shape. But instead, here she was, in New York, with Nico attending a _cooking class_ of all things.

Granted, she should have asked before she decided to take Nico’s hands when he suddenly dropped by her cabin, looking at her like a puppy and she knows that _he_ knows that she can never refuse him.

_“Nico,” her voice was a little tired from yesterday’s activities, but she still had a smile on her face when she greeted the younger boy, “Good morning.”_

_“Morning,” Nico nodded and Reyna didn’t see how his hand was playing with the skeleton ring on his finger. He gave a smile, offered his hand and Reyna – ever the easy one when it comes to all things Nico di Angelo – only gave a confused look as she accepted the hand._

_And then, before she knew it, the two of them arrived in the back alley of a bustling city. Nico had the decency to throw an apologetic smile as he said, “Sorry for not giving any warning.”_

_“You should be,” Reyna says immediately but her voice was not convincing. A part of her was worried about the tasks that she had suddenly left in the camp but it had been over a month since Nico had met her in person._

_Nico uses that small head tilt in his favor as he gave an apologetic expression and Reyna just sighs. There was no battling or refusing this, so she might as well just give up without any fight._

_Her competitive spirit cries at that but a bigger part of her is too endeared to the younger boy for her to even care._

_“And, then?” Reyna prompts, after Nico apologizes once more, “What are we doing here?”_

_At that, Nico just shows her a nervous look before he grabs her hands and leads her to a building without any more warning aside from, “You’ll see.”_

In the present time, Nico is focusing in the class – somewhat, or at least, Reyna assumes so, because he was looking at the direction of the cooking instructor.

For some reason, Nico was the only boy in the room and it looked like the entire room _knows_ because with Reyna’s great hearing, she can definitely hear the giggles and comments from the girls surrounding them.

A part of her thinks that Nico does, too, and so she’s a little surprised that he isn’t even bothered by them. She wonders if Nico is used to this – the stares and whispers, and being with normal mortals, in general.

But she doesn’t have the time to ask because a person near their counter loudly suggested to her friend, “Don’t you think we should get his number?”

Reyna cringes slightly at the tone and a part of her wants to laugh because as demigods, the use of technology was far and in between.

A few other girls voiced their agreement and Reyna remembers a particular conversation that she had with Piper, Thalia and Annabeth a few weeks ago.

_“You know, I’ve met him in a grocery run yesterday,” Piper says as she sits on the couch of Annabeth’s room._

_At her statement, the remaining people in the room stare because they were all confused by which_ him _she was pertaining too. There were several male friends that they shared and Reyna is confused by which_ one _exactly._

_It looked like Annabeth and Thalia had the same opinion, with the latter voicing out, “_ Him? _”_

_“Nico,” Piper says, as if it should be natural that she was pointing out to him._

_Thalia and Annabeth both agree that_ him _would usually pertain Nico when Reyna is part of the conversation, but they wisely kept their mouth shut. After all, there was no need to disrupt their small get-together by making Reyna deny her favoritism for the rest of the night._

_Or admit to it, depending on her mood._

_Before anyone can say more, Piper continues with her story, “Well, anyway. So, I saw Nico – and I was_ surprised.”

_“Because he’s shopping?” Annabeth asks, when Piper pauses dramatically. She made a small frown as she says, “Even Nico shops from time to time.”_

_Another pause – from Annabeth this time – and she adds, “I think.”_

_Reyna narrows her eyes at that and before she can explain that Nico_ does shop, thank you very much, _Piper raises her hand and shakes her head, looking very beautiful as she does so, “That is_ so _not the point.”_

_“So, what is?”_

_Thalia inquires, tone starting to get bored as she took a pack of chips on the table. Reyna is far from bored with the topic – it_ is _about Nico, after all – but even she can agree that the pace of this conversation is a little too slow._

_“When I went to the grocery shop, different girls were straight-up_ checking _him out.” Piper finally drops the bomb, “And it’s not just one, or two. The girls working on the aisles and even the customers – most would glance at Nico and looked at him like_ he was a piece of meat _.”_

_Thalia chokes at the choice of metaphor and before anyone comments, she says, “_ What?”

_“The mortal girls were_ checking him out _,” she repeats, enunciating each word very carefully._

_“Are you sure that they aren’t checking_ you _out?” Thalia asks, the skeptic, “You_ are _the daughter of Aphrodite, remember?”_

_“I’d know if they were looking at me,” Piper shakes her head. She sips from her juice and states her realization, “And at that moment, I realized that oh, Nico di Angelo_ is _handsome.”_

_Reyna doesn’t know where this conversation is going – and doesn’t know if she should even_ enter _it – and thankfully, Annabeth comes to her rescue._

_“Well, Nico_ is _attractive,” Annabeth admits and Thalia almost chokes on her chips again. Before anyone can send an accusing look, she hastily continues, “Objectively.”_

_“Right?” Piper asks and she shakes her head slightly. She bites her lips, thoughts running on her mind as she thinks, “I mean, not in the way that say, Jason is. Or even Percy. But you know those_ tall, dark and handsome _statements that girls gush about?”_

_Piper slams her hand softly on the desk near her, catching everyone’s attention, “That is exactly what Nico is.”_

_“Uhm,” Reyna finally gets enough courage to ask, “why exactly are we talking about this?”_

_“Ah, right,” Thalia – never one to fall short of any chance to be playful in times like this – grins, “Let’s not talk about her_ baby brother _in this manner, you know.”_

Reyna can only remember making a flustered expression at that – feeling oddly motherly – and she wonders if Piper jinxed her to experience the same thing that she had.

While Nico and Reyna visited mortal establishments from time to time, she _knows_ that the people around her had never paid Nico _this_ much attention. Sure, there were a few shutters of camera and scouts for some agency, but not as overwhelming as this.

And just as Reyna wonders if she was just being overly conscious, Nico speaks up from her right suddenly.

“Well, Hazel paid a visit the other day.” Nico doesn’t says where – in the camp or the Underworld – and Nico adds, “I thought that her home cooking was delicious.”

“Oh.” Reyna nods her head at that, but that doesn’t stop her from asking, “But why am _I_ here? _”_

Nico turns towards her at that and in a playful voice, he says, “Chaperone?”

“Nico…” Reyna wanted to scold him for a lot of things – for bringing her here without any warning, for suddenly making her do anything, for knowing how exactly he needed to look so that Reyna would never refuse him – but she pushes all of those thoughts from her mind.

Another comment behind her was directed to Nico and Reyna tries her best to tune the voices away as she just sighs and gives in, adding, “I’m _always_ your chaperone.”

From that time in clothes shopping where she had to judge Nico’s punk tastes to the time where they went to a beach only to go home immediately because he got sunburnt, Reyna thinks that she is _always_ accompanying Nico.

Everyone hints it, from Leo

_“Oh,” Leo stares at the shopping bag in Reyna’s hands, all in the expensive brands that she shopped with Nico, “You went to a mall?”_

_Reyna can hear the surprise at that, like someone as busy as her_ shouldn’t _have the time to. She agrees, in all honestly, but doesn’t voice it out._

_Instead, she nods her head and adds, “With Nico.”_

_And just like that, like the things were_ finally _making sense in his mind, Leo’s face form a small grin as he nods, “I see.”_

To Jason

_“You know,” Jason tells her suddenly, as dinner was served in the camp, “Nico asked me to watch a movie with him.”_

_Reyna thinks about previous conversations with Nico and blurts out, “The horror one? The one that started last week?”_

_“Yeah, that one.” Jason nods his head. He glances at her, curiosity evident in his eyes when he inquired, “Nico told you, too?”_

_At that, Reyna feels a sense of pride when she states, “We’ve already watched it.”_

_Jason can only blink at that – and proceeded to give her a curious look the entire night._

To Percy.

_“Did you hear?” Percy tells her, when he visits the camp, “Nico bought a car – that rich kid.”_

_Reyna can only blink at that, pointing out, “I was there with him.”_

_And then Percy laughs, more at himself than at Reyna, when he shakes his head, muttering, “Honestly, you…”_

_Percy doesn’t continue but Reyna can guess what he’s thinking._

Nico cuts off her thought with a small chuckle and then he’s looking at her appreciatively and it warms Reyna’s heart because if she had a younger brother, it would probably felt like this. Actually, she _does_ have a younger brother.

Nico.

“It’s the responsibility of the older sister,” Nico shrugs at that and then Reyna smiles without missing a beat. While there was a time when she being an elder sister to Nico felt awkward – mostly because everyone gossips about it _every single time_ – the two of them had gotten used to it.

“You’re so cheeky sometimes,” Reyna comments, even as her lips continue to curl upwards. She only stops when she notices that the teacher is staring at them and she nudges Nico, “… Nico, let’s focus.”

Nico nodded but when the instructor turned her back, Nico couldn’t help it when he adds, “Please do  - you’re going to be doing most of the cooking.”

Reyna rolls at Nico’s audacity but couldn’t disagree. After all, at the end of the day, even _she_ kind of wants to learn how to cook now.

Especially now that Nico has added _homemade cooking_ to his favorite meals.

… Gods.

Reyna bites the inside of her cheeks to prevent a sigh because Frank and Hazel were right. It’s not just about being an elder sister, Reyna is becoming more of a _mother_ , of all things.

_“I know that Nico calls you an older sister,” Hazel says as she tries not to smile, “But with how you look after Nico, sometimes, you look like a mother.”_

_“What?”_

_“I see what you mean.” Frank says, eating his meal beside Hazel. He doesn’t look up – whether intentionally or not – when he adds, “An overprotective mother.”_

_And just like that, Reyna repeats herself just as Frank looks up and widens his eyes._

_“What?”_

Not that she would hate it - it was just that the thought had never been in her mind for the longest time. With Camp Jupiter and her past invading her mind the whole time, it was hard to even focus on a single person.

And speaking of focus, Reyna decided to sharpen her concentration as the instructor started to discuss the proper way to create a lunchbox for _kids._

“This is an appropriate meal for your little ones,” the instructor states and Reyna couldn’t help but blink at that – the previous thoughts of being Nico’s almost _mother_ on her mind – and she continues, “Here is the perfect recipe….”

She continues to drawl as she shows every step carefully. Reyna knows that she’s paying the most attention to this part of the session but she would never say it to anyone. At all.

After a full hour of hearing about another type of dish – and ignoring the very obvious glances sent towards her, Nico’s more likely, way – they were finally allowed to pick a dish and emulate it.

“Time to try out the recipes!” The chef says and everyone gave enthusiastic replies – except for Nico who just blinked his eyes, like he just realized that it _was_ the end of the lessons.

“What?” Nico mutters under his breath and Reyna almost laughs.

“Nico,” Reyna asks, slowly, kindly, “Did you learn a recipe?”

If it was anyone else, she’d add a cold _at all_ , but this was Nico so she was in one of her gentler moods.

Nico sighs, turns to her, and his face is that perfect puppy look that had become effective not only to Reyna _and_ Will, but also to most people. She wonders _just who_ taught him that – because for the sake of everyone who is not Nico, that person needs to be talked to.

Nico doesn’t even need to say anything as Reyna concludes, “You didn’t.”

“For my defense,” Nico says too casually to actually be affected, “I was sensing several spirits and well…”

Reyna doesn’t think he’s lying because Nico _can_ sense the dead but she also knows that if he really wanted to concentrate, he can turn whatever sensor he has off.

“Yes, yes,” is what Reyna says and then, looking at the place where the ingredients are, she simply points as she requests, “Just get these ingredients and I’ll help you out.”

She takes a paper from the counter, writes the ingredients that she remembers, and then she hands it over to Nico who was waiting patiently.

While Reyna barely has any cooking experiences, she knows enough to handle herself and she also knew which tools she needed – unlike the rest of the group who kept on asking questions left and right.

She was just in the middle of washing a pan when her eyes flickered towards Nico and she sees three girls approach him – each of them looking very, very nervous.

Like the conversation that she had with her friends, this situation felt weird – mostly because it looked like her little brother was being hit on. Well, he _was_ , but…

She couldn’t help but watch as one of them spoke up and Nico – surprisingly – doesn’t flinch like he formerly does. He just tilts his head in _that_ angle and says a few words – Reyna _would_ be able to hear if she tried harder, but eavesdropping already seemed weird as it was – before the girls nodded their head excitedly.

She wonders if they would pounce him – they look like excited lions – but they just gave one more statement before they went back to their seats, whispering among themselves.

And it was at _that_ particular moment that Nico looks up at her and honestly, Reyna had the decency to feel embarrass.

Nico blushes slightly and shakes his head before he gets the last ingredient and walk towards her.

“I didn’t know that you’re _that_ popular,” Reyna couldn’t help but state when Nico arrives and he sighs at that. She wonders if this was how Thalia and Piper feel whenever they make a similar remark.

“Don’t say that,” Nico says, voice a little whiney and bratty – a complete opposite of the show he’d put on awhile ago. There was a pause and then he mutters, “It’s not like that always happens.”

Reyna wants to point out the otherwise – that Nico looked like he was _experienced_ , but she decided to give him a break. She just gives him one last teasing look before she shakes her head and then directs Nico to another task.

She has her back on Nico, but she knew that he was giving her a grateful smile at her actions.

After that, there was relative peace in the place. While there were several giggles here and there, no one seemed brave enough to _actually_ approach Nico and the two worked silently – Nico washing the ingredients as Reyna heats up the pan.

And then, Nico suggests a considerably weird action as he gets a knife and a carrot, saying, “I’ll cut this.”

“What?” Reyna unwillingly raises her voice – and apologizes to the people around her when they looked. She lowers her voice and disagrees, “You might cut yourself.”

“Reyna,” this time, it was Nico who oddly seemed mature and patient, when he reminds, “I use a sword, remember?”

Reyna points out, “Swords aren’t knives.”

“They’re the same thing,” Nico stands his ground. Reyna meets his eyes - and she truly wants to scold whoever thought Nico how to properly use his charms – and wavers when he says, lips forming an almost pout, “Let me try, please?”

Reyna truly is _too_ weak for him and she just sighs at herself. She nods reluctantly and states, “If you cut yourself, I’ll exchange with you.”

Reyna thinks that she was being impossible with her request. At the end of the day, Nico _is_ still a demigod – a powerful one, she knows that – and it’s not like a little scratch would hurt him.

Still, her maternal instincts truly come out with the boy in question because here she was, the fearless commander of hundreds of soldiers, not wanting to see the younger boy get even a small cut.

Nico, thankfully, doesn’t say anything more, aside from a grateful, “Thanks.”

Reyna nods and goes to other tasks – like mixing the eggs, preparing the breading, and cutting the meat. Still, that doesn’t stop her from eyeing Nico in her peripheral vision and her eyes widen when she realizes that Nico _was_ right.

She still thinks that swords are different from kitchen knives, but Nico was handling the vegetables nicely – properly – and cutting almost like a professional.

When Nico catches her looking, he gives a triumphant smile that she returns and from that period on, the cooking task became easier.

Nico continues to help out – from slicing to frying – and Reyna is almost astounded at the fact that Nico may be _better_ at this than her.

And then, like a jolt of lightning from Zeus himself, a certain memory with Will resurfaced in her mind.

_“Hey, did Nico send you food last week?” Will asks when Reyna visited the camp the previous month._

_“He did,” Reyna nods her head and allows him to take the seat beside her, “Why?”_

_Will mutters something before he shrugs it off, talking about another_ Nico _topic._

But now that she thinks about it, she faintly remembers hearing _“he cooked it himself”_ and if she was reluctant at the thought that time, she isn’t now.

And looking at Nico, who was now doing most of the work for their meal, it was like the puzzles started to solve themselves in Reyna’s mind.

“Nico,” Reyna inquires, when there is no immediate task aside from waiting for the soup to boil, “You _already_ knew how to cook, didn’t you?”

Nico turns at her question, slowly, and his eyes flickered slightly before he admits, “Kind of?”

And then, Reyna blinks, because love for homemade cooking _or not_ , there had been no reason to attend a cooking class, right?

Reyna must have looked as confused as she felt because Nico cleared his throat slightly and offered, “This cooking lesson isn’t for _me_.”

That was the only thing that he needed to say before another dose of warmth embraces Reyna and she couldn’t help the smile on her face. Nico, like always, would push her to a particular activity and while most of the time, it was for his own curiosity and amusement, there were also several times that it was for hers.

… Like this moment.

Reyna doesn’t know how to properly swallow this information and the only thing that she thinks about is that _Nico is truly endearing._

“So,” finally, when she managed to retrieve her voice, “is this your subtle way of telling me that you want to eat my homemade cooking?”

And Nico laughs, short and amused, and he looked a little shy – like a young boy asking for a present from his parent – when he nodded.

“Haaaah,” Reyna shakes her head – even as the warmth in her heart refuses to subside, “You didn’t need to do this, you know.”

“Oh, but,” Nico casually adds – casually adds to her joy, “I also wanted to hang out with  you today.”

And Reyna thinks that this moment is one of the main reasons why she is very endeared to Nico – because the boy may not show it all times, but the details in his actions, his decisions always, always make him more sensitive than he shows.

She doesn’t have the time to dwell on that thought, though, because she smells the faintest odor of smoke and states, “Is something burning?”

Nico gives a nervous smile and they looked at their pot – hoping that the burning smell isn’t from their cooking.

**Author's Note:**

> Platonic Reynico will ALWAYS be endearing. Also, Indulgent had been a fic where everyone points out that Reyna is favoring Nico, and this one is where Reyna doesn't only just know it, but also accept it wholeheartedly lol. 
> 
> Writing Reyna's POV is so nice because Reyna is sooo cute and just. She's responsible but just a bit (okay, a lot) biased lolol. Also, Nico as a little bit cheeky and knows how to pull his charms properly is equally as adorable as dorky, awkward Nico. I headcanon Nico as just a bit more childish with Reyna and orz orz so endeaaring ughhh.
> 
> Honestly, I wanted to go with a completely humorous fic but Reynico is a heartwarming family, so.... yeah. 
> 
> Also, as much as I love writing Reynico, I also like reading about them lolol. So uhm, if you have any platonic Reynico recs, please send them?
> 
> Shoutout to LapisLazuli13, who is not only one of my favorite Reynico writers, but person in general. <3 I'll finish the Baby Duck fic within the week, but hopefully, you'd like this too :>
> 
> As always, thank you for reading <3


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